Three of four dead in Grant County plane crash were high school students

By Susan Dunlap — Sun-News
A plane crashed into a field to the west of the Vans Mobile Home Park in Arenas Valley on Friday. All four people in the single-engine plane died, including three students at Aldo Leopold Charter School in Silver City, according to school officials. According to witness accounts, the plane exploded as soon as it hit the ground.

SILVER CITY >> Three of the four dead in Friday's plane crash in Arenas Valley, just outside of Silver City, were students at Aldo Leopold Charter School, school officials have confirmed.

The crash happened just before 4 p.m., when the single-engine plane overshot the Whiskey Creek Airport and crashed into a field behind Vans Mobile Home Park off Race Track Road.

All four occupants of the plane belonging to Albuquerque psychiatrist Dr. Peter Hochla died. Police have not released the names of the victims.

Aldo Leopold school officials met with students and parents at the Grant County Administration building at about 6 p.m. Friday and reportedly told attendees the names of the victims. School officials have asked that the media respect parents', teachers' and students' need for privacy.

Aldo Leopold Charter School is relatively small. The 2014 graduating class was made up of 16 students.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, although NMSP have confirmed the plane clipped two wires on its way down.

Richard Medina said he saw the plane flying at an altitude of about 200 feet and said he saw it attempt to land at Whiskey Creek Aiport.

"I heard the airplane flying over and it didn't sound right," Medina said.

A resident of the Vans Mobile Home Park, A. Gene Sharpe-Torres, witnessed the crash.

She said she looked out of her window, saw the plane coming straight toward her and thought, "I could be dead in the next moment."

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She said the plane was upside down and tilted sideways before it veered to the right, then burst into flames as it crashed into a neighboring grass field.

Sharpe-Torres said residents of the mobile home park rushed to the crash site with shovels, axes and hoses to try to contain the blaze. Sharpe-Torres said her neighbor, Allena Thompson, rushed out in flip-flops with a pickaxe.

"She was way out there, banging out the flames," Sharpe-Torres said.

Thompson said she heard the crash and looked out the window of her mobile home and saw what she described as a big ball of fire.

"As we fought the fire, the plane exploded twice," she said.

About 40 to 50 law enforcement and fire-fighting personnel responded to the crash site and ordered residents of the mobile home park to evacuate to a nearby church.

Eugene Muñoz said he drove past the police blockade at the turnoff for Race Track Road because he was determined to find his mother, Susan Renova, who needed assistance getting out of her mobile home. Muñoz said he found Renova in the church across the street and that an emergency medical technician had helped Renova reach safety.

Muñoz said the heat from the flames of the fire melted the tarp on the back end of his horse trailer. The fire from the blaze also burned the skirt of another trailer.

"It was really peaceful here until yesterday," Muñoz said. "Then it became a nightmare."

For Thompson, the nightmare continued after the plane crash. She evacuated to her mother's house two miles away, while her husband Steve Thompson stayed in their trailer.

Allena said she didn't know the whereabouts of her daughter, an Aldo Leopold student, and after about an hour of waiting, she started to panic. Allena's daughter was not in the plane.

When Allena tried to re-enter the mobile home park, she was arrested by a Grant County sheriff's deputy and said she was cited for resisting arrest and fleeing an officer.

"He didn't understand my state of mind," Allena said.

The residents of the mobile home park were allowed to return to their homes at about 8:30 p.m. Friday night and law enforcement remained at the crash site through the night.

Someone who would not give his name said Whiskey Creek Airport is a private airport and that the airport had no comment regarding the crash.

The Office of the Medical Investigator, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Traffic and Safety Bureau are investigating the crash site.

Susan Dunlap can be reached at 575-538-5893 ext. 5803.

By Susan Dunlap - Sun-News
A plane failed to land at Whiskey Creek Airport and crashed into a field behind an Arenas Valley mobile home park on Friday. All four people on the plane died.

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